* * * *
Hannah laughed as she heard Jackson’s horse galloping toward them and rolled her eyes at Billy. “Your boss is a tattletale. I bet he told Jack we allowed you to join the party and live. Grace threatened him to stay away tonight so we could have fun.”
Billy was dancing with Sammie but looked over at Hannah where she was sitting and resting. “He’s just jealous I am here with the most beautiful girls in Bear Creek.”
The girls all laughed and agreed with him.
Jackson stepped off his horse and eyed the bonfire and the girls with apprehension. “If Billy gets to stay, so can I, right?”
Grace nodded at her fiancé and went up to him, hugging him around his waist, feeling really good and happy. “Yeah, babe, but no lectures on safety and boring stuff like that, okay? We’re having fun, right girls?”
They all raised their beers and Hannah had her Sprite bottle and they cheered. Jackson was about to open his mouth and ask how many beers Grace had since she had obviously taken off her flannel shirt and was running around in a little white tank top that showed off her figure but stopped at the warning look in Billy’s eyes. It said don’t ruin their fun.
“Fine,” he mumbled, swallowing his words and playing it cool. “So what are we talking about? Nails? Fashion stuff?”
Amy laughed, sipping on a beer and looked him in the eyes. “No. We’re talking about what lowdown dogs men can be.”
Billy groaned and shook his head sadly at Jackson as if he had no social skills. “You just had to ask.”
When Ben drove up in his Jeep to the party, the music was back up and the four girls were dancing in the back of Hannah’s truck to Florida Georgia Line’s song, “Cruise.” Ben didn’t know what shocked him more. The fact that Grace stood on the edge of the tailgate singing to Jackson and dressed in a skimpy white tank top and short blue jea
n shorts with her cowboy boots or that Jackson stood there grinning like a fool instead of telling her to be careful before she fell off the tailgate and got hurt. He glanced at Hannah, dressed just like Grace, with her eyes closed and doing a seductive dance in the background along with Amy and Sammie. Billy stood there with a sappy look on his face and Ben shook his head sadly. His friends had obviously lost all common sense. He stood next to Jackson with a frown on his face but didn’t know what to say.
“I knew you couldn’t resist coming here,” Jackson said with a chuckle, but he didn’t take his eyes off the girls. “They are all safe and sound on our property. Hannah is not drinking so don’t ruin her fun okay, Ben? She’s had a rough couple of days. Let her have one night of fun.”
Ben nodded and kept his mouth shut. When the song was over Grace threw herself into Jackson’s arms, knowing he’d catch her. “You are too sexy for your own good, darlin’,” he told her as she wrapped her legs around his waist and held on to his shoulders. Jackson couldn’t resist kissing his future wife.
“Okay, you two. Let’s keep this party rated PG,” Billy joked. He was happy to see his cousin looking so happy after all she had been through in the last year.
Hannah looked at Ben. He held his hand out to help her down without saying a word. She looked at him suspiciously as if she knew he wanted to lecture her. “If you’re going to stay, no lectures, Ben.”
“Okay,” he agreed and put his arms around her waist to help her down, keeping his hands on her longer than necessary. He led her to the bale of hay and saw it already had a blanket placed there. “I couldn’t take one more minute of not seeing your face, honey. Go ahead and cuss me out, yell at me. I’ll take it if I can sit here with you just for a little while.”
Hannah blinked back her tears and leaned against him. “You shouldn’t be sweet, not when I’m mad at you. Tonight, let’s not fight. I just want to relax and have a good time. Let’s put the serious stuff on the back burner for now.”
“I can do that for you, baby. I can do anything for you if it makes you happy,” he whispered against her forehead, feeling grateful to have her in his arms for just one more minute.
True to his word, he danced and laughed and fed her roasted marshmallows, accidentally spreading the goo all over her face and licking it off, making the girls boo him and say he did it on purpose. But Hannah laughed and smiled and that made it all worthwhile to see her eyes bright and not filled with pain.
Once the party was over, Jackson sent his horse home. It knew the way back to the stable and he drove Hannah’s truck home with Grace snuggled close to him. Billy took Amy and Sammie home. Ben drove Hannah to her house and kissed her lips lightly, wanting more but being careful to keep things on a friendly level.
“Tonight was fun, Ben. Thanks for not getting all caveman on me.” She smiled a little sadly.
Ben looked over at her. “I know I hurt you, but we’ll fix this, Hannah. I can’t live without you, but tonight was about you enjoying yourself. I had fun watching you dance, honey. I have to go home and take a cold, cold shower now, but it was worth it.”
Hannah giggled and kissed his cheek. “Night, Ben.”
Chapter Twelve
He looked down at his desk the next morning when a name on a report caught his eye. Was that Hannah’s name? He picked it up and read it closely, it was made yesterday morning by Stan Warren but he had missed it last night since his head had been full of thoughts of Hannah. Hannah called Stan and not him. He felt like someone punched him in the gut physically. She hadn’t trusted him to take care of the problem. Apparently someone threw eggs at their newly fixed window.
Ben walked over to the shelter, immediately feeling concerned and angry at the same time but he didn’t want to fight with Hannah and upset her further. He needed the walk to get some fresh air and make sense of everything that was going on. The last thing he needed was to prove to her that they would have a bitter marriage full of fights. Once he felt calm, he opened the door to the shelter and walked in.
Richard was behind the counter and looked up from the paperwork he was doing. “Can I help you, sheriff?” he asked politely, but his attitude was no longer friendly toward Ben and he didn’t care if Ben liked it or not.
“Where’s Hannah?” he asked, ignoring Richard’s rudeness and looking around the waiting room. Everything seemed very quiet and calm.
“She had some work to do at home. She’ll be in later this afternoon,” Richard answered him with a frown.